If you are looking for the PM, try Napier – and for good measure she might have something to say

Buzz from the Beehive

We drew another blank, when we checked the Beehive website this morning for ministerial announcements, pronouncements or denouncements.  Nothing has been posted since January 16, when Damien O’Connor announced he was travelling to Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation.

We last heard from the PM on December 31 when  she issued two statements – Frontline workers to receive COVID-19 Response Award and New Year honours recipients highlight what makes NZ unique.

This does not mean the PM has not at least thought about her job over the holiday period.

A bundle of media reports suggest she has been busy working on how best to get her team into shape for the general election later this year and polishing her policy programme to optimise its appeal to the public.

Highway tolls looked like a Shaw thing, in the light of grim climate change report, but Wood was listening to the community

A toll, we imagined, might be introduced to discourage unnecessary motoring and reduce emissions on the new Ara Tūhono – Puhoi to Warkworth motorway north of Auckland.  And this, we supposed, would gel with the government’s aim of creating a carbon-neutral New Zealand.

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – authored by thousands of scientists and reviewers from more than 100 countries, including New Zealand – provides a grim warning of the risk facing our children, our planet, and future generations, unless urgent action is taken.

It prompted a press statement from Climate Change Minister James Shaw in which he called for a collective effort involving every sector of the economy, every community, and almost every government agency and their Minister to avert a climate crisis.

But Transport Minister Michael Wood issued a statement, too, to say the new Ara Tūhono – Puhoi to Warkworth motorway will not be tolled when it opens next year.

Sage sets sights on governance at Fish and Game but turns blind eye to the troubles of small tourist companies

So who is Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage gunning for?  That question was raised when she announced a “targeted” ministerial review into the governance of Fish and Game New Zealand and regional Fish and Game councils.

“Targeted” seems to mean the review is limited to “a health check of the governance of Fish and Game” and is not a review of Fish and Game’s statutory roles or functions.  We suppose the governors therefore can’t escape the work of the review team.

True, Sage said she was pleased with the support of Fish and Game’s leadership for a review and their help in progressing it.  But the panel is responsible to, and will report to, her, not to the department.

A different question was raised by Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis when he announced COVID recovery support for Whale Watch Kaikōura.   What will be the next tourism business to be deemed “iconic” and therefore deserving of taxpayers’ support?  And what must you do – or who should you be owned by, perhaps  –  to pass muster as “iconic”?